


Fool's Gold

by holyroller



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Drug Use, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, out of order events, post-DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9090346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holyroller/pseuds/holyroller
Summary: When will the courier be coming back home, do you think?





	

**Author's Note:**

> so i finished the Dead Money dlc after putting it off for like 10 years cause every time i died cause i had no stimpacks i lost 20 years off my lifespan.
> 
> this follows the order i played the dlcs' in which would be: Old World Blues, Honest Hearts, Dead Money.

A grimace sets on his face as he watches Veronica from the table. She digs through the fridge, looking for something she could eat. When she’s successful in her search, she comes back to him. A piece of leftover Brahmin steak in one hand and a Nuka Cola in another.

“It’s not even the slightest bit weird to you?” he repeats what he’d asked before she’d gotten up to get food.

“What?” she asks after taking a bite of the steak. She speaks with her mouth full, “that Six probably went off and probably ended up somewhere miles out into the Mojave? ‘Cause that’s what he probably did.”

“But even after the Big Empty, things didn’t feel like this,” he explains.

Cass takes the moment to step in. She also digs through the fridge for her own Nuka Cola.

“Hey, Cass?” Veronica asks, not looking up from the table, “where’s Six?”

“Off in Zion again, probably,” Cass replies, “guy came back from there enamoured with the legend of the ‘burned man’ or- the actual burned man, Six told me the same story like seven different ways.” She takes a drink from her soda and leans on a counter. Arcade gives her a look of curiosity before shaking his head.

“Well, Arcade thinks Six has gotten himself killed or something.”

“I didn’t say that,” Arcade snaps before Veronica has finished speaking, “I’m just saying that maybe- I don’t know. Doesn’t any of this feel weird? To either of you? It’s been over a week.”

“He was in Zion for nearly three,” Cass argues.

“His trek into the Big Empty took around the same time, too” Veronica adds.

“But something’s off,” Arcade stands from the table. He exits the room with a huff. ED-E is outside in the small hallway of the Lucky 38’s presidential suite. 

“You feel it, right?” 

ED-E beeps and Arcade sighs. The door to Six’s room’s remained closed. He goes off into the suite’s den. Boone is in there, trying his luck at billiards. The man was terrible at the game, despite his training with direct hits. Raul on the other hand, was better than everyone that roomed with Six, save for Cass.

“If you’re worried about Six, I wouldn’t be,” Boone says without looking up.

“From what I’ve seen the guy can handle himself,” Raul adds, “he’s somehow managed to convince all of us that working together’s a good idea, too.”

“He’ll be fine, Doc. Find something to distract yourself with. Worrying yourself too much’ll kill you,” Boone comments nonchalantly. 

“Thanks,” Arcade replies dryly. He knows Boone isn’t very good with these kind of things. But, there’s still an awkward feeling in his chest. Ever since Six had returned from one of his outings, claiming he was going to go investigate what looked like an abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker, something had been off about it. It wouldn’t be the first place Six had wanted to go to alone. He’d gone off to Zion like that, saying he’d gotten a job from a caravan company. Boone and ED-E had been there when he was abducted to the Big Empty, alone.

Something about this time was just off. Something was wrong. 

More days pass, and still no sign of Six or anything related to him. It seemed like the man had just gone off and disappeared. By the time the third week rolls around, Arcade takes it to step into Six’s room. A series of containers, holding everything from guns and grenades to the wardrobe he kept shut with a lock. 

Arcade moves to sit down on the empty bed, sheets left where its previous occupant had last left them.

“Where’d you go?” Arcade asks no one in particular. He waits for a few moments, almost expecting Six’s belongings to give him an answer. When they don’t, he makes his way out. A long sigh escapes his lips when he shuts the door back out in the hall. Boone approaches him then.

“Hey, so,” the sniper starts, “Veronica’s proposed that we get the Lucky 38 running again.”

“It’s not ours,” Arcade replies. Six had gotten rid of House. The Lucky 38 was his, technically.

“I know, but if we can sort it out before Six gets back, we can probably persuade him easier,” Boone replies.

“Okay, fair,” Arcade considers it. And it would really be nice to get the empty casino back up again. They could also start up a centre for help with the major issues that plagued the strip. Gambling, drug, and alcohol addictions. It could help anyone who wanted it.

“So you’re on board?” Boone asks.

“Yeah, between the lot of us I think we can figure something better than what House ran,” Arcade nods. Boone gives him a nod in response and presses on the elevator button behind them. Raul comes out of the kitchen a few moments later, a soda in hand.

“We’re gonna go see how well the casino’s been preserved, how long it’ll take,” Boone steps past him and into the elevator. Raul gives him a short wave as the doors shut. Arcade goes back to take a seat in the den. He taps his fingers on his knee. It’d been almost a month and still no sign. 

Arcade had busied himself with work in Freeside. The Followers always had an excess in patients and there was always things to do. They all stayed at the Lucky 38, so between the lot of them they’d always find a way to keep themselves entertained. Boone and Raul had become good friends as of late, with Raul showing the sniper the basics of weapon repair and everything. Cass would always find new adventures to get into on the strip. Veronica spent time looking through House’s old systems. She’d taken so much excitement from learning of what House knew about the old world. 

But Six was still missing. 

A sigh escapes Arcade’s lips as he goes off to find himself a drink. He wasn’t too big on alcohol, given the things he’d seen, but he figured it couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like he could drink much of it anyway. A glass of wine finds its way into his hands. He sets it on the table when there’s a bing from the elevator. Was the Lucky 38 really that hopeless? Shame.

A loud thud follows the bing and Arcade has taken a single step towards the doorway when he hears Veronica yell: _Oh no!_

He’s out into the hall and the smell hits him first. A mixture of grime, urine, and—something else. Cinnamon? He doesn’t dwell on it too long. He’s at Six’s side in a second. The man in question is halfway onto the ground, only barely held up by Raul and Boone. Six’s dark hair hangs in front of his face.

“Hey, you in there?” Cass is kneeling in front of him. She leans out and takes Six’s face in her hands, raising his head. He’s murmuring something. There’s a bit of a melody to his words and when Arcade gets a look at Six’s eyes, hazed over completely, he realizes.

“He’s high out of his mind,” he says as Cass lets go, allowing Boone and Raul to haul the man into his bedroom.

“Coulda figured that when I got a wiff of him, Doc,” Boone says as they pass. Very slowly, Arcade notes. Boone comments on this, “but that doesn’t explain why he weighs a thousand pounds.”

When they toss Six onto the mattress Arcade gets the bit of supplies that he’d brought over from Freeside. Making sure Six didn’t somehow die in his sleep or suffer an overdose was a little high on Arcade’s priority list now. 

He has Cass get him the rest of the stuff he’d need from around the Lucky 38. Things like tape and other chems. He’d have to try and cancel out what Six had taken. Boone had mentioned the man weighing a lot, meaning his bag probably had a lot in it. It was likely Six had gone too far with the Buffout.

“Hey,” Arcade sets his hand on the side of Six’s face, “can you hear me?”

Six keeps singing in the low murmur. His expression indicates he barely knows where he is.

“If I’m wrong,” Arcade starts, taking the needle with the concoction he’d put together to try and cancel out the Buffout’s effect, “then you’re gonna hate me for a while. But you’ll be okay. If I’m right, then you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Within an hour of having been injected with the serum, Six falls asleep. 

“He okay, Doc?” Veronica asks after Arcade steps out of the room.

“Yeah. I think so,” Arcade sighs. His worries were over, now replaced by other worries. But Six was home, and things seemed to be okay. 

“Where do you think he was?” Veronica replies.

“I don’t know,” Arcade is trying to answer the question himself.

“That wasn’t the stench of Zion,” Cass comments.

“Not the Big Empty, either,” Boone adds.

“The Mojave has its moments, but nowhere does it smell like expired scented candles that strongly,” Raul chimes in.

“He said something about an abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker,” Arcade realizes, “do you know anything about that?” He looks at Veronica.

“I know there’s one, but I couldn’t tell you where it is,” Veronica replies. Arcade sighs.

They all spend the remainder of the night trying to figure out what happened. Morning comes according to the clock Six had set on the wall and Arcade goes back to check up on the man. The room still smells awful but Six seems to be sleeping. He’s in the same position that Boone and Raul left him.

Arcade goes back to the bedside.

“Hey,” he tries again, “are you there?” He tries to shake Six, but it seems that Boone wasn’t joking about the weight. Before he can have a chance to worry about it, the man stirs.

“Don’t try and move so much,” Arcade says, holding out his arms as if to hold Six down.

“Gold,” Six coughs up. His voice is hoarse from the sleep. 

“What?” Arcade looks down at him.

“Gold,” Six repeats, trying to lift his arm. He doesn’t lift it more than half a centimetre.

“Gold… in your arm?” Arcade tries. He brings Six a glass of water.

Six coughs again after drinking before blinking repeatedly. He takes a deep breath, “there’s gold strapped to my arms and legs.”

“What?!” Arcade steps back slightly. He steps forward again to go and unstrap not one but three bars of solid gold from Six’s left arm. 

“Yeah,” Six laughs, coughing after he does, “ ’lotta gold.” 

“Where did you get gold?” Arcade asks.

“Sierra Madre Hotel and Casino,” comes the response. Six grunts, “give me a cigarette.”

Six isn’t necessarily an addict. He’s had to take more chems than necessary before, but not because he’s wanted the high. The man’s just as tactical as Boone. Arcade complies, lighting a stick before passing it to the courier in the bed.

“What happened?” 

Six takes a long drag from the cigarette, coughing again before he speaks, “I was kidnapped.”

“Oh no,” Arcade has no other response, “what did they do to you?”

“Super mutant, and his owner- I guess. Had me do all kinds of crazy shit to go rob this casino. There were these things—worse than ghouls,” Six coughs again, “like- ghost people. Had to kill them by decapitating them. And there were these other people who’d been kidnapped, too.”

“What happened to them?”

“Freed them. All of us, we had these explosive collars that would go off if any of us died,” Six takes another drag.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Arcade takes a seat on the bed.

“Me too,” Six reaches over with his left arm to try and remove the gold from his right arm. 

“Here,” Arcade reaches over and moves Six’s hands away, stripping the gold off the courier’s body until he’s made an impressive pyramid out of the bars. 

“You walked out of there…with all of this?” Arcade asks, looking at the pyramid with disbelief.

“Didn’t win it from the machines, love,” Six tries stretching but recoils, “there’s more in my bag.”

“I was worried,” Arcade says as he tries to figure out what they’re going to do with all the gold. Is there even a merchant out there who’d have enough to pay for a bar?

“I figured,” Six finishes the cigarette and stubs it out on the bedside table, “but you don’t have to worry. Remember Quarry Junction?”

“I remember,” Arcade shakes his head. Six showed up with Boone and ED-E completely unscathed save for a scratch that Six got from climbing down the structure within the junction too fast. They killed over seven deathclaws with nothing but a missile launcher and a set of sniper rifle.

“How do you feel?” Six asks, his eyes beginning to droop again. 

“Better. Now that you’re back,” Arcade replies.

“Missed me that much?” Six laughs lightly.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Arcade huffs, “you’re an insufferable headache that never ceases to amaze me with all the wild crap you get yourself into.” 

“Hmm love you too,” sleep hangs heavily over Six’s tone. Arcade leaves him to it, rolling his eyes at the courier’s sarcasm.

It’s a matter of days before Six is up and walking again. He’s never been a man to sit still, much less to spend more than the necessary amount of time in bed. By the time Arcade gets back from picking up supplies in Freeside early in the morning, they’re all gathered in the den with Six telling the story of the Sierra Madre and all its horrors.

“How does this kind of thing even happen?” Veronica asks.

“A wise man once said, ‘Mo-jave, mo-problems’, “the courier raises the drink in his hand.

“I can drink to that,” Cass replies, downing her own. 

Arcade steps into the den and all faces turn to look at him.

“You missed the story, doc,” Boone comments.

Something in Arcade’s stomach sinks a little, but it’s not a big enough thing for him to change the annoyed expression on his face.

“I’m not particularly interested in what other things can kill me out there, thanks,” Arcade replies dryly. 

“It sounds more horrifying than interesting, to be fair,” Veronica agrees. 

Veronica wants to get back to the Brotherhood of Steel base to gather any intel about the hotel out of curiosity, Cass promised to help sneak someone out of the Tops casino, Boone and Raul are still looking around the Lucky 38, trying to salvage most of it, ED-E’s in the middle of finalizing some tune up and Rex has been back at the King’s base for over a month now. That leaves Arcade alone with the courier for the afternoon. He’s been surprisingly willing to get the rest that Arcade’s recommended he gets.

The man in question lounges on one of the sofa’s in the den, messing with a blade he’d brought b ack with him from the Sierra Madre.

“You couldn’t have waited?” Arcade asks from the doorway. He leans back as he gains Six’s attention.

“What?” the man replies.

“It would have been better to know what it was exactly that hurt you.”

“You’re not… honestly upset by that, are you?” the courier sits up right and sets the blade on his lap.

“I’m not,” Arcade’s tone says otherwise, “but it would have helped.”

Six stands up, setting the blade somewhere on the sofa. He approaches Arcade slowly and silently. It’s slightly intimidating, given the strange look in his eyes from the Buffout withdrawal he’s been going through. It gets even weirder when he unbuttons the shirt he’s wearing, “if you wanted a look, you could have just asked.”

“It’s fine. You’ll be alright,” Arcade holds his hands out indicating for Six to stop.

“I’ll even tell you where it hurts, doc,” Six steps forward and reaches out to take Arcade’s hands. Arcade notes the greenish bruising on the man’s neck, likely from the collar. A trail of darker bruises is revealed from the bit of shirt he’d unbuttoned.

“Here,” Six sets one of Arcade’s hands on his shoulder. 

“And here,” The other hand goes down to Six’s side.

“And finally, it definitely hurts the most right up here,” Six raises a finger to tap his own lips, “what do you recommend for that, doc?” There’s a playfulness in his tone.

“If you smash some zander root, water and-” Arcade stops talking when Six takes a slight step closer.

“That sounds like a lot of work, doc. I need something that’ll cure me fast,” Six pouts. His dark hair threatens to hang over his eyes. His face is fairly bruised up on one side, with a scar to compliment the bruising on the other.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Arcade snaps.

“Then why’s your grip only gotten tighter?” Six replies, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Because… I guess I’m also an idiot,” Arcade leans in a little bit.

“You’re not,” Six laughs a little and reaches up to take a hold of Arcade’s face as they close the gap between them.


End file.
